MOSCOW, December 28. /TASS/. All the technology required for detecting, treating and managing patients infected with the new Omicron strain of coronavirus has been fully developed, Russian Health Minister Mikhail Murashko told journalists.

"Our specialists from South Africa along with consumer rights watchdog (Rospotrebnadzor) and specialists of federal institutions have worked out all the issues of medical treatment [of patients] with the new Omicron variant. [They] fully examined the clinical course of it [the disease]. They conducted laboratory tests with this new strain of coronavirus. Technology for detecting, treating and managing patients has been fully developed already," he said at a meeting of the board of the Coordinating Council to control the incidence of novel coronavirus infection in the Russian Federation on Tuesday.

On November 26, the World Health Organization (WHO) designated the B.1.1.529 variant identified in South Africa as a "Variant of Concern" and assigned it the Greek letter Omicron. In its statement, the WHO noted that "this variant has a large number of mutations, some of which are concerning." According to the WHO, to date, it has already been detected in over 100 countries.